Yak were a 4 piece instrumental progressive rock band who played between '82 & '84. The line up consisted of Robin Hodder (guitar), SySnell (bass), John Wynn (drums) & Martin Morgan (keyboards). The band stopped playing when jobs took the members to disperate parts of the UK. The material had only ever been recorded in Lo-Fi but Martin was determined that it should not be 'lost'. In 2003 he set about re-recording 8 of the YAK tracks which were released as the "Dark Side of the Duck" album in Feb '04. Following this and enthused with the response, the band re-formed - original line up, but now with Max Johnson on bass. A live EP, "Does Your Yak Bite ?" was released in 2005, and the same line-up released the jam collection "The Rutland Chronicles" the following year…

"This 2008 instrumental CD is one of the best British progressive rock albums in recent memory, pure classic prog, close to Genesis (or Steve Hackett solo) and Camel. Yak are a keys/bass/drums trio, but their sound is bigger than that – after hearing this, you will swear that there is a guitarist in the band, one who has the expressive Hackett/Latimer lead style nailed! In fact, keyboardist Martin Morgan is playing the guitar parts from a keyboard, the best emulation of that sustained electric guitar style we’ve ever heard. Of course a guitarist or two will be required live, as the guitar and keyboard sounds are layered. Just when you’ve despaired of ever hearing a British prog band create the real thing again, you are rescued by a Yak. Sounds like Dave Greenslade jamming with Genesis"…

For a long while, talk of vertical take-off and landing jet fighters meant only the world-beating Harrier. Then the Russian Yakovlev design bureau announced it was bringing its supersonic VTOL fighter, the Yak-141 "Freestyle" to the Farnborough air show in 1992. After all the rumours and scepticism, the world knew that Russian technology was a thing to wonder at. Yakovlev has been in the VTOL business since the early 1960s when they flew the experimental Yak-36 "Freehand" prototype.

Alexandr S. Yakovlev was one of the most versatile aircraft designers of his age, but he had the misfortune to work in the USSR which made him almost unknown to the outside world. In 1926-27 he built his first aeroplane and from then on he designed structures which were, time and again, ahead of their time. In 1934, he was offered a derelict bed factory which he shortly transformed into a major design and manufacturing plant. From those premises came, to mention just some, a spate of sporting and training aircraft which gained many world-class records: the chief family of Soviet single-seat fighters of World War II, the Yak-1, -3, -7 and -9 of which 36,769 were built. He built the first jet to fly in the USSR and the first Soviet transport helicopters. Later came the principal Soviet radar-equipped interceptors, from which stemmed many other types of tactical twin-jet, including the Soviet counterpart to the U-2. Yakovlev died in 1989, and today his design bureau, still on the site of the old bed factory, is the giant Yak Aircraft Corporation. It produces the most important Russian twin-jet airliner, a diverse group of general-aviation aircraft, an advanced jet trainer and light-attack aircraft and, in conjunction with the Museum of Flying in California, replicas of the Yak-3 wartime fighter. This volume is a detailed analysis of all these and many other aircraft.

The Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger was the Soviet Navy's first and only VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) multi-role combat aircraft. Outwardly similar in design to the British-built Harrier, the first prototype of the aircraft was completed on April 14, 1970, and it made its maiden flight January 15, 1971. Before production ceased, 231 aircraft were built, including 38 two-seat trainers. The aircraft suffered from severe payload restrictions, particularly when operating in hot environments, such as the Indian Ocean. Following the break up of the Soviet Union, the Yak-38 saw service with the Russian Federation and Ukraine air forces, although all have been withdrawn from service. Apart from their role as ship-borne aircraft, a number were also deployed to Afghanistan following the Soviet invasion in 1979.The Yak-41 Freestyle was a development of the earlier program. Production ended in the late 1980s and the first flight occurred on March 9, 1987. The project was cancelled in 1991 as a result of restrictions on the Russian defense budget. More recently, Yakovlev was involved with Lockheed Martin in the development of the Joint Strike Fighter the future F-35 which will see service not only with U.S. forces but with the British and other European air forces.This book includes a comprehensive account of the development and operational record of the aircraft along with color and black and white photos throughout.